AN: Yo, had a crazy week. I have way more respect for authors who write on their phones rn. Enjoy the chap and review! I can't tell what you think if you don't.
Dis link (for a server of insanity, reading addicts and cat lovers) - discord (.gg) / KynJXJHsZ4
Pat link (for voters and unfinished rough drafts) - (.com) / user?u=4865707
.
Disclaimer: I own no source material.
.
Chapter 4: The Next Step
"Hm?" The old wolf peered over his student's shoulder, seeing him working away in a workbook with a pencil. "You enjoy drawing, child?"
"Mn. It soothes me." Hei replied absentmindedly while his pencil traced along the page, lead painting the image to a face that echoed in his memories.
The old man hummed and watched Hei draw. His experienced gaze trailed to the fully illustrated image on the opposite page, and the outline of it again through the back of the page. "An acquaintance?"
Hei's pencil paused momentarily as he studied the image he was drawing, the sketch of the feminine face staring back at him. "My mother." He traced the sketch with a finger idly. "She died minutes after I was born, but I was aware then." His mind took him back to that moment. The moment someone looked at him with more love than he ever had in two lives. "The way she looked at me. Like I was the center of her universe in that one moment. It burned itself into me." There was a slight sense of longing in his young voice that the older man kindly didn't point out.
"Do you draw her often?"
"Yeah. A couple times a week. I don't want to forget her face."
A hand gently landing on his shoulder snapped Hei out of a trance as he looked up at the neutral face of his teacher. "Do you mind, child?" His free hand reached forward in question.
"Huh? Oh, go for it." Hei handed it over without care. He wasn't shy about his hobby.
The old man studied it closely, humming appreciatively at the attention to detail he saw. "Not bad, not bad at all." Then, to Hei's surprise, the old man waved a hand to make room and sat beside him. "But it could use some work. To properly draw a sketched face, you need to start from…."
The old man entered his lecturing mode, and Hei naturally leaned in attentively without really realizing it, so used to their dynamic by that point.
For the rest of the night, the old man taught him a dozen new tricks to play with, showing him step by step how to improve. Neither noticing when the clock struck past the time they were supposed to sleep.
And many years later, Hei would look down at his drawings and fondly recall that night, remembering the old wolf by his side, gently guiding him like how he could only imagine a father would.
0000
December 1997.
Deep in the forests of the Montserrat Mountains, a bare hour away by car from Mr. Lupa's rural home, a shadow was speeding through the terrain to the top, using only the hazy light of the moon and stars to light his way.
An ear twitched at the faint sound of a bowstring before the shadow twisted around a tree trunk, already kicking off to continue on as the bark of the tree shielded him from a trio of deadly sharp crossbow bolts.
The shadows footsteps were near silent, making nary a sound even as he rapidly moved through foliage and loose sedimentary stone.
Powerful legs left no trace of prints yet used enough force to propel the figure from one tree to another, moving at nearly a forty-five-degree angle in a race against time.
Deep bellowing breaths left a pair of lungs in a steady rhythm as a diaphragm of perfectly optimized muscles that would baffle scientists the world over pumped oxygen in and carbon dioxide out.
A gleam in the night flashed, barely visible but locked onto by sharp red irises that shrunk in focus as the shadow adjusted his course in seconds to swing under a hanging branch, avoiding a dozen shards of ice flying into his previous path.
The momentum of his movement didn't stop there as the figure contorted his body into the most suitable geometric angle to swing upwards and grab onto the sheer cliff of the rock spire to push himself on.
But his efforts were seemingly predicted as a hidden string pulled taught as his body moved past, causing five hair-thin needles coated in paralytic poison to launch his way.
With nothing to use as leverage or defense, the figure had to parry, pulling out a thin blade from his leather bracer to knock away as many as possible.
Two made it through and stabbed into the flesh of his left shoulder, numbing the muscles there in seconds. But even as the poison pushed through his blood, antibodies flooded the area to fight back.
Although he was down an arm for the moment, the shadow made no move to stop as fingers stabbed into stone hard enough to create indents, giving him a hold to launch himself upward with a force that would surprise anyone who gazed at his lithe frame.
The needles were pulled out without a glance and used as throwing weapons to trigger two further traps in his way, allowing him to pass without harassment.
He danced in the moonlight, a figure of optimized perfection like fine steel pulled from a furnace after many poundings of a hammer.
On and off, he changed directions, avoiding traps where he caught them and dodging the ones he tripped in his haste. He was an arrow in the wind, tearing through with point-blank judgment guiding his way upward.
Occasionally, a silent blade or blast of magic that had nothing to do with the traps would be sent flying his way with no warning, and he would have to dodge by instincts and intuition alone.
Minor wounds accumulated on his journey in small scratches, tiny holes from debris or needles, and the errant bleeding cut from bladed edges, slowly dying his undershirt red, but even as drops of blood dripped from his frame, he knew they were naught but surface wounds, having been purposefully taken to avoid worse injuries.
Occasionally, target frames of all shapes, from humanoid to beastly, would shoot up between the trees, giving him spare moments to process them and grab at pistols holstered to his lower back, firing off shots to hit targets between the eyes or through the heart as he moved on.
His marathon began at the base of the mountain, having been trapped in a pit filling with water and continuing as he ran for the better part of two hours, drenching his body in sweat, blood, and debris before he finally broke through the elevation to reach a flat clearing at the top of one of the mountains stone spires.
The moon's light shone brightly, illuminating the shadow's face enough to reveal a wild, panting grin.
With black hair pulled back in a knot and red eyes gleaming brightly, ten-year-old Hei crouched low as he hyper-focused on the standing figure of his aged teacher a short distance away, eying him with a look of pure pride and battle lust.
Hei slowly stood from his crouch, reaching a steady four and a half feet in height, with a frame better fit for an Olympic swimmer than a boy his age.
A leather chest plate stuck to his upper body, accompanied by similarly materialled braces and greaves, under which only a plain t-shirt and combat pants adorned his frame with a pair of steel-tipped boots.
Hei breathed deep into the chilled mountain air as he slowly circled the stone pillar's edge.
His teacher moved in unison, without a single sign of wear from his own time moving through the woods launching surprise attacks at him.
Exhaustion crept into his bones, his eyelids grew heavy, his limbs like lead, and yet he never took his eyes off his foe. A flick of a switch dropped the magazines from both guns as he reloaded from various magazines stationed along his thighs.
A voice like a whisper drifted through the clearing to his ears. "Good. Never show weakness. Break the morale of those who know how far they pushed you. Become something more than a man." The old man's words were spoken gently, yet they were clearly heard over the harsh wind blowing at their elevation.
"You must be able to remain unseen." For a bare moment, an errant cloud blocked the moon's path, blanketing the area in darkness. Hei's only warning was the faint sound of sliding metal off to his side as he raised his pistols in a cross guard to halt the paper-thin edge of a blade inches from his neck. "You must become something to be feared."
His red irises shrunk to pinpricks as a cold drop of sweat went down his spine. "Damn, Old Man, you're really going for the kill there, huh?"
His teacher's calm and measured voice responded with a faint smirk as an aged hand tightly gripped the handle of a cane sword. "If one does not face a true threat of death, how can they grow to prepare for it?"
"Isn't this a little literal?"
"Not at all; if I wanted you dead, you would be dead."
"Well, isn't that a nice thought?"
Hei twisted his grip as the muzzles pointed forward, firing shots at point-blank range. Still, even as he flicked the trigger of his fully customized Glock G20s with lengthened barrels and serrated top guards reinforced to handle the abuse of cutting forces, his teacher's thin blade still managed to deflect the fired shots away and slice the barrel off one of them.
A growl left his lips as he backflipped out of the way of the seeking blade, firing shots from both guns upside down and allowing the recoil from the 10mm rounds to alter his body's landing point. "Can you please stop destroying my pistols? They are not cheap, you know!"
The shots from his intact pistol were sliced down the middle, while the slower bullets from his ruined gun were dodged entirely. "Your enemies will not stop to consider your financial situation." The point of a blade thrust forward, and Hei barely avoided it by a hair's breadth as he kicked out to get space. "And you have hundreds; stop complaining, child." The old man pressed his advantage, forcing Hei into close quarters.
Back and forth, their limbs flashed in a dance of martial ability, always planning moves ahead to try and gain the advantage. "That's not the point. Who do you think puts them together?"
An errant swing tore off another inch of the barrel of his ruined pistol as the old man chuckled audibly. "Not my problem."
Hei deadpanned in annoyance and returned the favor by unloading his clip, gaining a second to push back and reload before his teacher was on him again.
'I won't be able to hit him straight on; I need to box him toward the platform's edge.'
Hei's hands flashed rapidly as he fired and moved like his life depended on it, because it did as his teacher relentlessly pressed him.
He switched entirely to using the ruined pistol to block the blade when he couldn't dodge, using his intact one in a mix of close-range acrobatics and 9mm rounds to fire off shots and force the old man to move in a specific direction.
'Slow and gradual, don't let him notice.' Minor wounds accumulated as he forced himself not to rush, pushing his weary body to the limit as he moved as fast as his highly trained senses could follow his teacher's movements while simultaneously keeping aware of his surroundings.
He was also forced to use a single gun at a time, dropping empty magazines and reloading from the lines on his thighs before the old one even hit the ground.
'I just need an opening. A single second to act.'
The old man's blade picked up speed the longer they went, and as an errant swing tore open a gash through Hei's chest armor, he caught sight of a camouflaged snake wrapped around a stone a bare few feet away.
He quickly turned his back to the rock, sacrificing the remaining handle of his ruined gun entirely as a thrown weapon to gain a precious second to back handspring, using his now free hand to scoop the stone and launch it forward.
The old man's blade flashed forward without pause, not considering a rock an obstacle, only for the snake's blood to splash his way, making his teacher's eyes widen a fraction before it splattered against his face.
With a cheeky smirk, Hei opened fire without hesitation.
But just because he was momentarily blinded didn't mean his teacher would react any slower as he dodged, cut, or deflected the bullets with senses honed to an extent Hei could only marvel at.
However, his purpose was still achieved as the old man was forced to move in the direction of Hei's choosing, having aimed his bullets at precise points to make them seem natural.
'Five more steps.'
He ran out of 9mm round magazines and switched entirely to 10mm.
'Three more steps.'
His remaining pistol had a deep gash torn into the barrel.
'One more step!'
Hei's adrenaline spiked as he went in for the kill.
The old man was unknowingly taking his next step off the edge of the platform, and Hei's barely intact gun was moving into his guard, ready to take position at the moment his teacher's blade lowered to reset his footing.
The victory was so close; he could taste it. Years of brutal training, with each progressive one ramping up in intensity and lethality, all led up to this moment. The chance he was waiting for to finally checkmate the old wolf.
But the old man would be a poor teacher if he had no lessons left to teach his prized pupil. Mr. Lupa's sheath in his off-hand, a flimsy piece of wood he used as a walking aid, which was never used in any of their previous matches, jammed into Hei's hip at the last second, throwing him off balance and allowing the old man to grab Hei's collar and twist them around as Hei's shot missed by inches.
A silence hung in the air as Hei ended up hanging over the side of the pillar's edge, with only the hold on his collar keeping him from plummeting. "Please tell me that's your sword poking my back."
"…." A cuff to the side of his head was his response as he was tossed back onto the platform on his ass. "Disrespectful brat." Mr. Lupa wiped the blood from his eyes with a sigh.
"Maybe if you stopped hitting my head, I would be more respectful, you crafty old wolf!"
The same song and dance repeated for the thousandth time as Hei and his teacher bickered with sparks flying between their gazes until they ran out of breath.
"So, how did I do?" The calm question left Hei's lips as he eased back.
"You committed without confirming you had me. I told you to always aim for a check, never checkmate. Too many unstable factors. If your target is stronger in power, skill, and knowledge, find a way to assassinate them, chip away at them, or run." His teacher responded readily.
Hei scoffed and idly tossed his ruined pistol away. "As if I could chip away or run from you. I was running out of stamina after that marathon up here. You knocked me out, drugged me, and left me tied up and blindfolded in a pit filling with water at the base of the mountain around midnight. It's almost sunrise Old Man; I was running out of steam."
Rather than continue to lecture him, the old man simply hummed and turned away to face the horizon. "Indeed. Without using your Sacred Gear, you managed to free yourself and choose the best possible path forward, executing it to the best of your ability. Rather remarkably at that."
A scowl grew on Hei's lips as he leaned back on his hands in annoyance. "Still lost."
"This test was not to defeat me in combat."
"….it wasn't?" Hei commented in surprise and looked over at the old man standing with his hands over his cane, looking out into the distance.
A chuckle rumbled in his teacher's chest as he side-eyed his student. "No child, it was not. This test tested your skills in stealth, physical conditioning, critical thought process, tactical thinking, combat prowess, spatial awareness, and reaction speed. In almost all those areas, you have surpassed my expectations of where I thought you would be at your current age."
Hei looked away with a slight flush at the praise as he pretended to check over a cut in one of his bracers. "'Almost' means I had weaker areas."
"It does." Mr. Lupa replied without missing a beat.
"Ugh. It's always something." Hei sighed and dropped down on his back. He very rarely, if ever, whined about his training, but after everything he had been through, he just wanted to get into the action already. 'What's the point of training to be an assassin if you don't get to kill anyone?'
The old man only seemed amused at his reaction. "No matter how far you grow, Hei, there will always be areas to improve. Look toward these stone spires around us, and notice their cracks and crevices. See where the stones are loose and brittle. And when you look upon your foes, do not look upon them as impenetrable mountains demanding awe. Look for the cracks, find the crevices, and seek to widen them to topple them." A strong gust blew by, ruffling their clothes in the wind as eyes full of wisdom looked down fondly upon the younger male with something akin to familial affection. "And when we look upon ourselves, so too should we look for those crevices so that we may build on them, reinforce them, and become ever more firm on the path to the top." An aged palm reached down in offering. "There will always be crevices to improve on Hei. Every mountain has them."
Those final words echoed in his ears as he stared at the palm, his mind flashing back to their first meeting half a decade before as the same hand was offered to him. 'I really came a long way, haven't I?'
"You have, child."
Hei blinked and looked up at the smug face of his teacher with a scowl. "How do you keep doing that?" He grabbed the offered hand and got hauled to his feet like a feather. "I know for a fact you're not reading my thoughts."
"Your poker face is still shit."
"Joy said it was fine!"
"Joy didn't say anything. You assumed that's what she said."
"But…I…you…grah!"
Hei knew he couldn't argue and gripped his face in annoyance while his teacher guffawed and reached around to pull Hei into a gentle headlock. "I'm proud of how far you have come, Hei. You should know you beat not only your own time on that course tonight but my own as well."
Hei's eyes widened from where he struggled within the hold. "I did?!" He momentarily forgot to keep pretending to struggle as he looked up at his teacher.
"Well, it was my record from when I was fifteen, but yes, you did." The old man said offhandedly.
Hei's expression became complicated as he pushed the old man off. "I can't tell if I should be proud of that or not."
Mr. Lupa chuckled as Hei stood beside him at the ledge, both watching the sky light up in the distance. "Of course you should. It's no easy feat to match me. I started younger than you and complained far less with much harsher training."
"Wait, really?"
"No, of course not. I'm quite proud of how harsh I made your training. Thanks to that Gear of yours being stupidly broken, I enhanced what my Sensei did to me. I couldn't ask for a better student to match my elite training methods."
"….just taking whatever scraps you can get, Old Man, aren't you?"
Hei dodged the swat to the back of his head on instinct.
"What have I told you about respect?"
"That's it's a useful tool to get close to a target and kill them without a trace."
"Mn. Good, you were listening."
Teacher and student stood silently before making eye contact and breaking into laughter. The distant sun began to peak over the horizon as the two stood undaunted in the wind, laughing freely as they leaned against each other.
For a single moment, they were free and without a care in the world, letting Hei feel a warmth he never even knew he craved. A feeling he only briefly felt in the moment his mother held him. And in the next, the old man's laughter transitioned into a rough cough, and those feelings vanished to be replaced with concern.
"Teacher?"
Hei quickly raised a hand to pat the older man's back, but he was waved off a second later. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Just allergies, is all."
'It's December, Old Man.' Hei's words went unsaid, but they both knew it. It wasn't the first time Mr. Lupa had begun coughing, and despite Hei's attempts to keep him healthy, he still seemed to be slowing down with the passing years. 'We soak in the hot springs every day, and I keep sneaking the Rejuvenation Pill into his food every year, so why does he seem to keep getting worse?'
The cough passed soon as his teacher stood tall and breathed deep into the crisp morning mountain air. "Ah, getting a good workout this early is always good."
"You ok old man? Didn't bust a hip on me or anything?" Hei commented jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.
Mr. Lupa scoffed and swung his cane too fast for Hei to see, smacking into Hei's shoulder where he had been paralyzed hours before with an audible thwack.
"Motherfuc..!"
"What have I told you about cursing?" Another stick thwack landed inside Hei's guard without him being able to see it.
"Fuck!"
The stick was raised a third time before Hei wised up enough to take some distance.
The old man chuckled. "Worry about yourself first, child. Just because you have grown resistant to the poison and regained movement of your limbs doesn't mean the damaged areas are recovered. You relied too much on one side during our spar."
Hei grudgingly rubbed his throbbing shoulder. "Can you please teach me a lesson without inflicting pain?"
"Nonsense, pain is the greatest teacher."
"Then what are you here for?"
"To inflict the pain, of course."
"….My revenge will be swift."
"Not in my lifetime, it won't." The old man laughed openly, and Hei could only get pulled into the humor of it as he rolled his shoulder. "Stop lollygagging, son; let's get home and soak in the springs. I'm not as young as I once was."
"Yeah, you're practically ancient."
"Oho~, seems my student has some more energy, hm?"
Hei rolled his eyes at the empty threat and pulled on his mana as a magic formation grew on the ground beneath his feet. "Stop trying to abuse me and get in here, Old Man. I'm curious what Joy made for breakfast."
"Mn. She is a remarkable chef." Mr. Lupa stepped beside him as the formation began charging up. "I'm afraid we have been spoiled by her. I no longer find my usual favored restaurant the same."
"Tell me about it. I tried to get some lessons in the kitchen from her and got picked up like a kitten and dropped outside. How the hell does she do that? I can't even see her move."
"Neither can I."
"Wait, really?!"
"Some mysteries are best left unprovoked dear student."
"Of course, teacher."
The student bowed to his teacher's wisdom before they both laughed as the formation took hold and sent them home with a bright flash of light.
0000
'Oh yeah~, this is the life.' Hei groaned in comfort as he floated in the steaming waters of his healing hot spring after breakfast. The old man had given him the day off to relax after the six-hour intensive morning exercise, leaving Hei to soak and rest on his own. 'I can't thank the Christian God enough for including this card. Otherwise, I'd be broke on healing spell cards.'
A week didn't go by without him getting some kind of injury, from minor things like scrapes to small cuts and lacerations, torn muscles or bone fractures, and even straight-out broken limbs.
He had even lost fingers in accidents, but thankfully his healing Spell Cards could handle that level of injury.
Spell Card #11: Water of Life – Washes a single target in the healing waters of life. Heals all minor to medium injuries in seconds but does not cure illnesses, curses, or missing organs/limbs.
'I was worried it wouldn't heal cut-off fingers, but thankfully, it worked when I put the cut-off pieces up against the stump. The experience still sucked, though.' His most potent healing card was always available, but like his teacher had said, it was best to save it till the end of the year in case of real emergencies.
There were twenty Spell Cards with a variety of effects in his collection, but there was no need to waste them when he didn't have to. 'I only get one Spell Card a month; better to let them accumulate for when I need them, especially since I can just heal minor injuries in the hot springs.'
Greed Islands Spell Cards contained various effects, from healing, defense, transportation, communication, tracking, and even what Hei considered a pure joke card.
Spell Card #1: Peek - View targets undergarments. Must be in visual range.
Well, it is the world of DxD, and no matter how real it gets, it's still a lewd world.' Some of his cards had been a source of great amusement over the years. Many were useful. Some were crazy. And others were just weird. But since that weirdness was to Hei's benefit, they didn't bother him all that much.
Generally speaking, there were three ways Hei had discovered he could activate a card.
Placing it in the activation slot, in which case the card's effects would show on the video screen, giving him a chance to view possible effects and then cancel the activation and put the card back without using it.
Holding a specific card in his hand and saying its name out loud. In which the card would immediately go into effect how he wished. The screen would still be used when applicable, but there were no takebacks.
And the last way was to simply leave a card alone for sixty seconds outside the binder, in which case it would activate with no target. If he turned a car into a Free Slot card and left that card alone for sixty seconds, the vehicle would appear wherever the card was left.
The book itself was not a weapon as it only hovered over his hand. And it was challenging to incorporate cards into direct combat use. Still, it did seem to be damage resistant as no matter what Hei and the old man hit it with, it stayed still in the air like an unmovable object.
The crafty old wolf had pondered if it could be used as a last-second shield if deployed correctly. Still, neither he nor Hei were willing to really push it without good reason. So it was up to Hei to determine how best to use it on his own. As a Sacred Gear with no history to study, he was in uncharted territory, and it was best for him as the user to figure out how to use it.
He had to try and notice anything about it and take notes, seeing what worked and what didn't. What he could adjust and couldn't.
And thanks to that, two years down the line, he realized that his Gear was using mana to activate. 'It was tiny amounts at first, but it seems that little loophole of itemizing Designated Cards so I don't waste them each year backfired.' It took a constant flow from Hei's mana pool to keep an item materialized. He spent nothing to actually use them, but keeping them around had a draining effect. And while one or two didn't matter, it added up over time. 'Makes me wonder if that fucker Oscar knew about it. No wonder the trash panda was always excited for me to make new safehouses.'
Over the last six years, Hei couldn't resist the desire to make more safehouses. They were simply too valuable and exciting to pass up.
And with the aid of long-distance teleportation, the world was open for him to peruse at his leisure, going where his heart pleased to set up in locations that called to him.
Six safehouses, spread around the world, with various purposes behind their creation, from Barcelona to Provence, the Swiss Alps, Venice, Cyprus, and even Australia.
Each equipped with all the benefits of his first, from snake golem guards that had increased lethality of venom depending on what he fed them to the teleportation and divination blockers, the fruit tree and fish pond, and all the amenities that he could outfit them with, along with a Joy panda maid to maintain them.
Each card added another tiny block onto the pull of his mana, and if anything, Hei was baffled by how he managed to keep up with it and still had enough left over to teleport once or twice a day.
Floating in the water, he raised a palm up to eye level in curiosity, remembering his teacher's lessons about the tiers of strength in the world. 'Humans have the hardest time growing their energy pools. All beings can learn how to wield physical or magical abilities, and each race has its benefits and weaknesses, but energy is where the line is drawn. With enough energy, a simple fireball spell could incinerate the world.'
Mr. Lupa's words rang in his ears as he recalled his six-year-old self sitting in their little classroom, learning the rules of the wider world. "You must understand, child, in the eyes of the world, first will always come raw power. Even the smallest blade can pierce the weakest point of the largest foe, but raw power still matters. Raw power can brute force any other method. With enough raw power, anything can be overcome." His teacher drew a large circle on a blackboard and labeled it Power.
"Second comes understanding, but you need not focus on such for now." He drew a second circle within the first, labeling it Understanding.
"Third comes tools. The right hammer for the right nail. The counter to a strength. The weapons of mankind. The weapons of gods, forged of materials that only appear once in a lifetime. The technology that rapidly develops and its devastating potential. Even the body is a tool, able to be enhanced to withstand any force. And then there are the tools created by the powerful and given to the weak, such as that Sacred Gear bonded to your soul. The right tool can allow a much weaker user to overcome a much stronger foe." A third smaller circle was drawn inside the first two and labeled Tools.
"Fourth come skill. Physical, Mental, and Magical. Everything that can be trained. Everything that can be taught." A fourth smaller circle was drawn in the first three and labeled Skill.
"And lastly, we have the areas that are difficult to quantify. Bloodlines. Racial abilities. Unique characteristics. These are areas that tie into the other four, and yet are kept apart for how they only apply to a smaller percentage of the world." A dot was drawn in the center of the four circles and labeled Other.
Mr. Lupa pointed to each one. "Power, understanding, tools, skill, and other. These five areas define where each and every individual stands on the power ladder of the world. Enough raw power can overcome all the other four, but under that threshold, the other four can all individually trump one another."
The old man looked down at his attentively listening student and chuckled. "I shall instruct you in all I can for skill. Through skill alone, I struck fear into hearts around the world with the name of Lupa. As did my teacher before me. As did each active generation before her." The old man's cane pointed at the circle. "However, power cannot be overlooked. The more power we have, the higher the foe our blades can reach."
Young Hei had raised his hand with a question and spoke when prompted. "But teacher, how do we train the aspect of power?"
"A good question. That is the main point of today's lecture." The older man erased his circle diagram and drew the image of a balloon on the board. "To begin with, you must know how beings evolve to higher levels. Inside of us all is a core containing the pool of energy that is relevant to the race. Mana for humans, demonic energy for devils, holy energy for angels, and so on and so forth." The balloon was slowly colored in with chalk as he continued. "The goal of every being who wishes to grow is to fill that balloon with energy. Say the maximum of our core is 100 units, and I only have 10 units of energy. If I were to cast a spell and spend my energy, I could wait, and my core would return to 10 units of energy over time. But doing such a thing will not push it beyond 10 units. No matter how much magic I cast or how much I train or study, that limit will not change. So, the question becomes, how do we push the ceiling of our energy to fill out all 100 units? Any guesses?"
Hei studied the diagram for a moment before answering. "External forces?"
Mr. Lupa's eyes lit up in joy. "Correct. We stimulate our cores with outside forces. Any idea how?"
"Um…Devil have their contracts?" Hei shot into the dark, and the old man nodded.
"Correct answer, but don't hesitate. A question is only stupid if you do not learn something you did not know before asking it."
"Yes, teacher."
"Mn. Now, Devils and their contracts."
Mr. Lupa left the balloon alone momentarily and moved to the side to begin writing the names of different races on the board. "Every race is different in how they stimulate themselves. Every race has its own methods, secrets, biology, and so on, but the way each gathers power is quite well known."
His cane pointed toward Devils. "Devils grow their demonic energy through contracts. When a contract is complete, their payment is in mana from humans, or whatever energy equivalent from the customer, and is converted into demonic energy through the contract formula. The converted energy pushes the limit of their energy inside their core, allowing them to grow stronger in power the more contracts they complete."
"Then come their counterpart, the Angels." The cane moved to point at the word. "Angels are flawed beings. Being made and created by the Christian God, they are unable to grow beyond what He made them to be. What power level they were created at is how they stay. They take holy energy from religious faith, purify it in heaven, and transfer it to themselves to fill their cores. The stronger the faith of their followers, the more abundant resources they have to pull from. And considering how rarely they fight, the whole world knows they have the potential to unleash a great deal of power if pushed."
"Is that why they fall?"
"What do you mean, child?"
"Do angels fall because they want to grow beyond how they were made?"
The old man paused at the surprisingly deep question and pondered it. "Who is to say but a Fallen Angel? I can't say I have much experience with them, so my knowledge is from what is known and written. Perhaps, you can ask one, one day."
Hei nodded and mentally added a note for it as his teacher went on and moved his cane to the side.
"Fallen Angels, angels who committed sins banned by their maker, are stripped of their holy energy and connection to the source of wherever angels pull from. But in return, they do, in fact, gain the ability to grow while taking in corrupted energy, otherwise known as the energy of sin. They feed off it but likewise give in to it and end up stagnating." The old wolf hummed in distaste. "Like the energy of faith, the energy of sin or corruption also exists. When strong sins are committed, it permeates the air with a sense of dread of negativity. Fallen Angels take in that corrupted energy, converting it like a broken machine trying to draw in the energy of faith to their cores. However, corruption is a double-sided blade, and as they try to absorb it, they must be strong enough of Will to not give in to it. Giving in gives them a sense of ecstasy, but likewise, they lose the chance to push the limits of their cores. And as beings who fell for giving into sin, they are quite susceptible to its allure."
Hei raised his hand again and asked a question. "I thought Devils were all about sin and corruption?"
"Ah, I'm glad you caught that." Mr. Lupa chuckled and looked at his student pointedly. "Are you aware of where Devils originated?"
"Wasn't it from Lucifer? And Lilith, I think?"
"Once again, correct. Lilith was a demoness. And not just an average one, but a queen of demons. A race separate from devils, naturally growing through corruption because that is their nature. But Lucifer was one of the strongest of the Christian God's creations, and his genes were strong. All the stories of how things happened are purely related to tales, but we know that Lucifer fell, entered the underworld, and found Lilith somehow. Together they created the first seventy-two devils, direct descendants of Lucifer, beings half related to the Christian God and half of the demonic essence. And as we know, when an angel falls, their core attempts to fill the void left from being cut off from faith energy with sin energy, so the mix of the two powerful beings created something new. They created Devils."
Mr. Lupa paused to let that settle before moving on. "Devils are unique because they have many benefits, but they are unique because, just like angels, they cannot grow power naturally if from the opposite side of a coin. Angels and Devils, both races stunted in their ability to grow their energy centers. All while, Fallen Angels, the race between the two, could still grow if at great risk to themselves. But while Angels got stuck while sticking to their rules, the Devils developed special contracts to get around their block."
"How did they develop those contracts?"
"Who knows? According to records, it simply was developed. It was never stated how or when."
"What do you think happened?"
"What do I think?" The old man hummed aloud. "There is no proof for it, but I can only imagine Lucifer had something to do with it. The concept of contracts has been tied to Devils since their inception in almost every record I have read. As the forefather of Devilkind, I would imagine Lucifer had figured it out and passed it down to his children. It would explain why Devils today are unable to alter their contracts."
Hei's interest spiked at the last line. "What do you mean they can't?"
"Hm?" The old man looked up as if he had just realized Hei didn't know something. "Ah, forgive me. Devils have made a ruckus for millennia complaining about it. It's quite common knowledge, but while devils can utilize the spell formation for their contractual magic, they are unable to actually change the formula itself. Meaning while they can set the parameters or settings, there are certain rules enforced upon them all. That's why everyone knows."
"Rules like what?"
"Rules like an equivalent exchange. Both parties must agree to a price. Or how they cannot force anyone into a contract, as it must be entered willingly of clear mind. Devils are masters of word games because they had to become so. The contract is their lifeline to climbing the power ladder."
"But that's only for raw power, right? They can still grow skills, use tools, or their bloodlines, right?"
"Absolutely. Even a two-winged devil could have spent centuries training in the sword, have a powerful bloodline, or be capable of using magic in a way that will be a great threat. But then again, long-lived species tend to have issues with mental discipline, so take it by a case-by-case scenario if you meet a devil."
"But teacher, what about Devil Peerages?"
"Ah, you know of them then?"
"Mn. The chess sets."
"Yes, those vile things." Mr. Lupa gave him a stern look. "Don't insult the name of our legacy by selling your soul. Even the Lupa's who chose the life of a craftsman didn't cross that line. It would dishonor us all."
"No worries, Old Man, I never intended to." Hei didn't need the motivation to agree. His fate was his own, and he would never sell that away if he had a choice.
The old wolf studied him for a moment before grunting. "Good. Those chess sets provide great power but masks the fact that it's simply another form of contractual magic. By accepting a piece, you are paying the price in soul and servitude. It converts any race through the energy of the king into a devil by corrupting their soul, cutting off any other path to power besides through contracts like the rest of their kind. But it also makes you dependent on the king's energy like a drug. The demonic energy fills your core like a virus, altering the channels to fit the role of the chess piece, and it's no better than a leash!"
His cane tapped down harshly as a heat entered his voice. "New devils are all fascinated by the pretty colors of demonic energy distracting them like Morphine addicts. But break the contract, fight back against the so-called king, try to be anything but a slave to another's desires, and the demonic energy is ripped from your core, beginning a slow and painful collapse of the soul, mutating the flesh to monstrous degrees."
Mr. Lupa paused with gritted teeth to lock eyes with Hei with an intensity that took the younger man aback. "And that's not even mentioning the long-term subtle mental adjustments of obedience to the king. Once that piece enters your soul, you either become one of them or die a death with no reincarnation waiting for you. No afterlife. Just evaporating into the void, forever erased from the world with only the faint recollection of others to remember you and rot with time."
The old man's words died off with a defeated tone, resulting in an uncomfortable silence stretching between the two.
Hei had never seen the old man get that worked up about anything aside from training. He would never know what prompted it, but something in that moment pushed him to ask a single question.
"Were they close to you?"
A white-knuckled grip on his cane slowly weakened with a whispered answer leaving his lips. "My brother."
"I thought you were an orphan?"
A slight bit of humor returned to Mr. Lupa's gaze as he looked at his student. "In our type of life, shed blood is worth more than familial blood. Sometimes…" He looked off fondly at something only he could see. "Sometimes, bonds form in the heat of combat. In unseen situations, rivals can become unwilling allies, and with time, unquestionable allies ready to walk into hell if needed without a word. The type of brother you are lucky to find once in a lifetime."
Hei was always curious about the old man's life and what he had seen, so he welcomed the chance to learn more. "What was his name?"
"Lucas. He was a marksman and sniper; he would have loved to have you as a student." A soft chuckle escaped his lips as he shook his head. "Not that he could ever train someone better than I could. No one is better than a true Lupa."
The mix of humor and pride made Hei laugh as he commented jokingly. "I don't know; maybe he would have hit me less. Ever heard of child abuse, Old Man?"
A scoff left the older man's twitching lips. "Disrespectful brat."
The shared moment of amusement trailed off as Hei broached the main question.
"What happened to him?"
Mr. Lupa hummed, trying to think of how to phrase his words as a lesson for his student. "When I say you're ready, I'll personally take you to the best organization for mercenaries like us. Such places offer a variety of benefits to their members with very few rules at all. And one of those benefits is offers of open contacts divided by the grade of membership. At the highest grade, very few contracts come in; and when they do, they often come with requests for specific mercenaries. Rejecting them can hurt your reputation; accepting them is a one-way road to succeeding or dying trying. It's not an easy situation, and you often won't get any details before accepting them."
"But we're mercenaries; what does reputation matter for? We can just go anywhere in the world."
"Ha, the organization is worldwide, child. Refuse a private request at your own peril, many groups don't like being refused, but refuse a direct contract through official channels, and it tells everyone you were too weak to handle it. I told you before, in this line of work, you will do things you are not proud of."
Hei furrowed his brows at that. "So I can't refuse a direct job? That makes this whole thing seem less appealing. Can't I just be a solo mercenary?"
Mr. Lupa shrugged in acceptance. "I never said you couldn't. Do what you wish, child. I will only train and guide you. Every choice you make is yours to make. Just be aware of the consequences that follow." A sharp grin stretched across his lips. "And be prepared to tear out the throat of whoever comes. Most larger contractors don't like loose ends, so a job never ends until you complete it and make it safely home."
"Can I kill a contractor for turning on me?"
"Of course. But they won't do it until you complete the task they set. If you accept a job, always finish it and then deal with the rest. The bigger and more ruthless your reputation, the less likely they have the balls to turn on you."
"But first, you have to complete the contract?"
"If accepted, always. That's what makes something like a Marker so valuable. It's giving another a chance to request a contract for a single target without allowing you to decline."
"And refusing hurts your reputation?"
"A marker? Refusing will instantly tell the whole underworld your word is worthless, and you will find a bounty on you faster than you can blink."
"Not a marker, an official contract."
"Ah. That's not breaking the rules so much as pride and reputation. When an alpha predator shows weakness, challengers will want to take a bite."
"And that's why Lucas couldn't decline the job?" Hei could read between the lines to put two and two together.
The old man didn't bother hiding it and nodded. "Mn. He had a marker and owed a favor. The contract came and required him to kill a target. But there was only one way to get close enough to do it."
"A peerage. He reincarnated as a Devil."
A sigh left the old man's lips as he looked down. "Indeed. He could have asked for help, but our shared pride wouldn't let him. He went in, and he did what he did best alone."
"Did he succeed?"
"Of course he did! My rival wouldn't fail after paying so much. But killing the target and getting away unscathed are different things entirely. One does not simply kill their own peerage king and get away without consequence." Mr. Lupa looked out the window and gazed into the past. "His kill was flawless, unexpected, unseen, unheard. He waited, he planned, and he executed it at the overt time to make his escape. But within seconds of the king's death, the demonic energy funneling his core cut off, and his soul began a slow and gradual collapse. Even making it back to the human world from the underworld didn't change that."
There was a somber tone to the old man that had Hei feeling melancholic despite never having met the man. "Didn't he know it would happen?"
His teacher hummed to himself for a moment before answering. "Hard to say. Much of what I tell you about the peerage system was unknown at that time. The idea of it and the base mechanics were known, but not the inner workings. It's relatively new to the larger world, less than two centuries old. I wouldn't put it past that Old Eagle to have managed to figure it out before his kill. He was always cautious like that. Yet he still did what his job had him do; too much pride in him to simply live with a contract still open, you see. But that didn't stop him from recording his findings. He kept a journal and recorded everything he found important on jobs so he could look back on them and improve for the future. And when I last saw him, he handed his journal to me before losing himself to the insanity that follows the collapse of the soul."
"So everything you know of the peerage system comes from his notes? It's not widely known?"
"Perhaps parts of it are out there; I assure you there are many cautious minds who would do their research before jumping for an offer of an immortal lifespan and power. My information, however, comes from Lucas, and the people I have told can be counted on a single hand."
"Including me?"
Mr. Lupa turned away from the window to give him an amused look. "Including you, child. I give to my heir all my skills and knowledge to allow you to grow beyond me. And hopefully, to avoid some of the mistakes I made along my way."
"Lucas's death wasn't your fault Old Man."
"I know. But granting him mercy was." The man turned and headed for the door. "He came to me at the end for a reason."
"And that was it? That's the end? " Hei couldn't stop himself from asking, and as soon as the words left his mouth, he paled as a bloodlust he had never felt before froze him in place.
The gaze of an aged predator looked over the older man's shoulder at his young apprentice and answered simply. "The bodies I piled that night announced my retirement to the world." The pressure vanished as quickly as it appeared as the old man turned back and left through the open door. "Today's lesson is over. I'll see you in the yard in fifteen minutes for balance training."
By the time Hei made it out for said training, the old man had made no mention of what was discussed and focused only on his improvement.
And in the following years, Hei heard a few more stories of his teacher's rival. Of the man a Lupa in his prime considered a rival. The Glock the old man had given Hei to try at first had been a gift from Lucas, as it turned out, and it explained why the old man always seemed melancholic whenever Hei brought it out.
After finding out, Hei stopped using it and had it framed. The old man had tried to reprimand him when he saw it, saying a gun was meant to be used, but Hei insisted, and his teacher eventually gave in. The weapon currently sat on the wall in the living room, putting a slight smile on the older man's face every time he saw it.
And that smile gave Hei the satisfaction of knowing he did the right thing. 'Besides, I was outgrowing it.'
The way the conversation turned took him off-topic, but the main talk of the day was on how power worked in the world.
Hei was growing too fast for a simple handgun. And an older model at that. He had been messing with gun parts since he was seven, learning to customize and reinforce aspects. And now, at ten years old, he was losing at least a dozen every month to harsh training.
If it weren't for a particular method of developing income and a connection to a black market dealer Mr. Lupa set up for him, he wouldn't have gotten as skilled as he was today without another half a decade. Money made the world go round, and unless he really wanted to go through with hypnotizing rednecks in America or robbing a military base, he had to fund his marksmanship progress.
'But I can't go on forever like this. I can see the road ahead of me, and modern firearms aren't going to last forever. The old man already told me that after a certain point, most supernatural's would practically be unharmed by modern bullet fire. If I want to continue this path, I need something more. I need something with mana or energy. Maybe a mix of the two?'
His hands were wrinkled from soaking in the hot springs for so long, and he forced himself to get up. 'Humans are even worse off than Devils. The only two ways to increase the size of a mana pool are through aging or external factors, and those factors are in very short supply.' He flexed his hands, feeling the energy thrumming inside his core. 'And yet my mana pool has been growing at speeds beyond what simple age can do for me. Whatever is going on with my mana, however I'm managing to keep up with my Sacred Gear; it seems unique to me.' His mind flashed to the brief memory of his mother performing magic before he pushed it aside. 'Mana is the path forward. I'll figure out the why later. I just need to focus on the how to use it part, for now.'
Hei sighed and grabbed a towel to throw over his wet hair while he got changed. 'I still have time. If nothing comes up, I'll have to invent my own methods. I could always steal holy rounds from the church or try to make my own, but they have diminishing effects on anything not weak to the holy element. Elemental bullets, perhaps?' He paused while considering the idea. 'Could work. I just need to figure out a spell formula to make the bullet itself. Then I can fire it normally instead of having to alter the formula every single time to adjust where the bullet goes, at what speed, and so on. Just something to make the actual bullet itself. Hm….I might need a dedicated mage to help with that, which means I need money or something to trade for it. Which means I need more money.'
His lips slowly pulled back into a grin as he walked into the house. 'I should be set to ramp up my merchant plans; I was just waiting for Teacher to approve my brand name before I officially launched. I'll go make sure everything's ready and ask him tonight.'
He came around the corner and saw Joy dusting in the hallway. "Morning, Joy. Can you tell the Old Man I'm heading out? I need to resupply my Gear and check up on a few things."
The lovable panda maid ruffled his hair, and in seconds Hei found his head dry, his towel stolen, and a cookie shoved into his mouth. She grunted at him, and he rolled his eyes as he chewed. "Nom, nom. You don't have to baby me, Joy. Nom. Wait? Is this oatmeal raisin? Nom."
Joy nodded absentmindedly and placed two more cookies in his hand before returning to cleaning.
"You make it hard to not love you."
She huffed in amusement and waved him on.
Hei chuckled and munched on his cookies while a teleportation circle lit up around him. "I'll let your sisters know you said hi." A Tupperware of cookies landed in his arms as he vanished in a flash of light amongst much laughter.
But even as he did, he couldn't stop an idle thought at the back of his head from forming. 'If Lucas was the one the Old Man felt so close to, why does that gravestone I found in the woods have the name Becky on it?' He had wandered into the clearing with the grave long ago, but seeing as fresh flowers were placed on it every time he came upon it, he understood there were some questions better left unasked without good reason.
Hei could only hope there wouldn't be a day he had such a reason.
"Nom."
0000
As Hei spoke with Joy and left, Mr. Lupa had a conversation of his own to handle.
The older man indecisively turned over a card in his hand for long minutes before sighing and inputting a number he hadn't dialed in years into his phone.
The tone rung exactly three times before a deep and well-spoken voice answered. "Welcome to the Continental, how may I be of service?"
The old man rolled his tongue in a final moment of hesitation before speaking firmly. "This is member #0498. I wish to set an appointment with the manager."
"…" The voice on the other side paused for a fraction of a second that only those with experience could catch. "Certainly sir, the manager is free tomorrow at 8PM in the lounge. Will that do?"
"Yes."
"Understood Mr. Lupa. May I ask for the purpose of the visit to tell the Manager?"
"Membership recommendation."
"Relation and designation?"
"Heir. Lupus."
"...Understood."
Chapter End.
AN: Thoughts? Review and let me know.
.
.
Response to Reviews:
/: Splash – Guns are gonna go all the way in this one. No worries about that.
/: danielsnow – The Neko sisters are still coming, no worries on that. Yasaka I'm unsure about but she would still be a great choice. Akeno could be fun but idk about it. She's too stuck to Rias, and unless I plan to steal her away as a kid and save her mom, which would result in having a child Akeno crushing on his older physical self which feels wrong, then I'd have to add her and Rias, and while I don't hate Rias, I'd prefer not to mix her and Kuroka.
/: Trixuny – No worries, that's not gonna change here. well, as far as canon goes anyway.
/: Noahbadoah – Of course I would notice ya. You have followed me for years, and I appreciate that a lot my friend. Readers can be truly cruel, but that's mostly the 14 year old horny brats who live on webnovel. They think nothing of the fact that authors are people too, and most of us have issues that led to us writing in the first place.
And thanks! I'm glad your enjoying. I will neither confirm nor deny your poem's accuracy, but its very well done. For it's art, I'll share a hint. Don't be afraid to think outside the box.
/: Sh4d0wgh0st – I hope it remains a favorite. And yup, he's half-human now. The other half I shall not say for now.
/: Dragon Master 888 – Joy is love. Joy is a sub category of Fluff.
/: HughJasz – Sorry, sorry, my mind wanders. That's why I set up the pat vote. People can decide and I can stop wandering lol. I'm glad I could do the mystery justice. Hope you enjoyed the chap.
/: calderoneric758 – Maybe it is, maybe it isn't lol. No spoilers from me. I will only point at the single comment I made on chapter 1. 'the answer is not generic.'
As for the birth father. I'm debating on what to do for him just yet. I got options.